Brooks the Little Cannonball

Fun in Cin City

Cincinnati is fun. Not only did I finally learn how to spell the city correctly, but we have had great time while we are here. We went to a Reds game last night at Great American Ballpark (they lost by giving up 8 runs in the 10th inning), and then there was a huge fireworks show that lasted about 20 minutes and included 2 guys that rushed onto the field (one made it, one was tazered and was convulsing in the outfield). Brooks was not a fan of the fireworks, but he loved both the game and the drinks there. He spent most of his time with his head in the cup as seen below! We also filled out All-Star ballots, and don't worry--the Red Sox got all of our American League votes.







The next day we wend to Eden Park in Cincinnati along the Ohio river and had a picnic, then had some great ice cream from a drive through called Greaters. I think you can tell the kids liked it OK.

Thanks and Goodbye

To all that helped us get ready and moved, THANK YOU!! We would still be in the great town of West Hartford loading that truck if it weren't for all of your help. We are currently at Jackie's house in Fort Thomas, KY--a cute little town just outside of Cincinnati (on the other side of the river from OH). We are loving our time here visiting with family, but already missing everyone back in CT. Our departure was not without incident. After loading the truck and going to bed on air mattresses in our apartment, we woke up ready to leave. We just had to clean up a little bit, take a load to the dumpster, and wait for our landlord to come by. After he came over and gave us our deposit check, JJ went to take a garbage load and pick up her last paycheck from Farmington Farms. As she was leaving the parking lot the Camry died. So we had it towed to a nearby auto shop and had the ignition coil replaced. We had JJ take it in and cry a little so they would work on it that day and get it done so we could leave. Right after they called (at 5pm) to tell us that the car was done, we heard a thud and screaming for Lewis to help. Our neighbor had fallen and Lewis ended up helping her up and taking her to the hospital to have a CAT scan. After they got back, the guy from the truck company finally showed up. We were glad we were there when he got there because he and Lewis had to rig up a way to keep the dividing wall to stay put, otherwise our stuff would have fallen all over the place. We finally pulled out at 6 PM and made it to Clearfield, PA by midnight and stayed in a hotel. We woke up Thurs. AM and the Camry decided to not work again. Luckily, Lewis was able to fix it (we hope) by tightening the things around the battery and we made it here to KY and have been relaxing ever since. Today we went to this great place called the GAP clearance center where they send all the things they can't sell. I could have bought a lot more things if the kids weren't getting in the way and Aiden didn't have to spend 30 minutes in the bathroom. Twice. I'm not kidding. Tonight we are going to a Red's game. More to come on the adventures of moving to AL later tomorrow. Again, thanks to all that helped. We will miss you all.

More Fenway Pics

Fenway, Finally!

It was on my to-do list since we got to Connecticut and I finally went to a game in my last week of living in New England. As a good-bye gift, Anna got JJ and me Red Sox tickets to last Thurs. night's game! We were to go with Anna and Matt, but JJ had prior commitments, so Kyle took the opportunity to go as my date. If you have never been to Fenway, then I should start by telling you it is the smallest and best ballpark in baseball. The Sox came back to win it in the bottom of the 7th. We sang "Sweet Caroline" with the crowd in the 8th (so loud I was hoarse the next day), and there were amazing defensive catches made throughout the game. We ate disgusting amounts of hot dogs, fries, chicken fingers and cokes! It was such a great experience, and it made me sad to be leaving New England. One thing I won't miss is 40 degree weather at the end of May. It was freezing at the game, but I have a feeling I don't have to worry about that in Alabama.

Oh, and about the picture. I stitched together 4 photos to get the panoramic and the guys head got squished. So that is how that pinhead got to be in the picture.

Graduation

Yesterday was graduation and it was wonderful. It was a beautiful ceremony full of tradition and long speeches!! The speeches were inspirational and the outfits were great. The professors wore different robes, hoods, hats, etc. depending on their position and role in the ceremony. It was a great event and a well deserved pat on the back for Lewis and his classmates. Here are some pictures from the brunch at the Avon Old Farms in on Saturday where Lewis received 3 awards: American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons Award, International College of Dentists Student Leadership Award, and Oral Biology Award. On Sunday graduation was held at the Connecticut Convention Center. It was such a neat event to be a part of and now we can call Lewis Dr. Jones!

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Happy Mother's Day!

I know it's a day late, but yesterday got swept up with graduation. Happy Mother's Day to my mom who is probably the coolest woman on the planet. If I could be half as awesome as her I would be thrilled. Also, Happy Mother's Day to my mother-in-law Dee who I owe so much to for raising Lewis right and being here right now to help us through this crazy move. I am so grateful to be a mother, it is the best thing in the world. (I was going to scan in some great pictures of my mom from the 70's, but they are all packed.)

Camping and Almost Dr. Jones

These pictures for some reason are in reverse order, oh well, you get the idea, and you know this is JJ posting and not fancy shmancy technology boy. This last weekend we went to Kent, CT to camp at Macedonia Brook State Park. Kyle and Hillary joined us for a fun but freezing cold spring night in western Connecticut. Brooks was in heaven in the dirt, sticks, and rocks, and Aiden was the self designated stick gatherer. There was a cool water pump that gave us lots of fun times. We drove to Kent Falls which was great and took some time to relax in the sun. We also got ice cream and terrific iced chocolate at Beligique in Kent. Afterward we drove to and through the west cornwall coverd bridge and on to the great falls in Falls Village where Lewis, Kyle and Jaska had hiked when doing the Appalacian Trail. In the picture with Aiden she is pointing to the hole she backed up right into. She fell in up to her bottom! Later on we went to the West's awesome Cinco de Mayo party even though we were sure stinky. On Sunday we had the other LDS dental students (well, 3 of the 4) from UConn over for a BBQ. It was fun to spend some time with them all and let the dental boys talk dental.
Tonight was great, Lewis' mom and Candace came in town for graduation just in time to watch our kids so we could go to a dinner where Lewis was inducted into the dental honor society. It really is quite an honor and I am so proud of him. People like Lewis rarely understand what a big deal something like this is. Lewis is truly so outstanding in so many areas, he is always getting awards and is quite used to it. The pictures are Lewis with the other inductees: Pricilla, Larissa (who will also be at UAB next year), and Adam. The other picture is Lewis and Adam. Congrats to the soon-to-be DOCTOR JONES!!!!!!!!

Goodbye old trusty tooth

Picture 1: my original crown
2 and 3: provisional (temporary crown)
4: my real tooth (I'm secretly a pirate)
5: my NEW TOOTH I LOVE IT I LOVE IT!!


Sorry if the pirate picture traumatized you. I had to say goodbye to my old crown on my front tooth about 2 weeks ago. As most of you know, I had an accident while balancing on a baby gate when I was 8 years old and knocked out my tooth. For about 6 years I just had an improvised half tooth made of composite, the stuff fillings are made of. When I was 14 or 15 I was eating a JuJuBee at the movie theater when my "tooth" fell out. I got my "buddy" the crown then. Even though he's a nice guy, apparently my dentist who originally gave me the crown wasn't the best dentist. Lewis hasn't been impressed with his work and was definitely not impressed with my crown. I guess it didn't fit well and was put on in some weird way that no one at UConn had ever seen. Lewis decided a few weeks ago to see me and get a new crown made for me. He got the stomach flu (the first time he's thrown up since he was 14 years old) and had to cancel, so we had to move the appointment and we finished up today. It was the last possible day that Lewis could be working in the clinic before graduation! I guess we wanted to wait to the last minute, but I LOVE IT!!!!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE my new tooth. It fits so well, the gray is much less, and there is no gap between the tooth and my gums. Thanks Lewis, I LOVE IT!!!!

Spring has finally come!

We are so glad that it is finally spring time in Connecticut! When we left for our trip to Alabama there were no leaves on the trees yet, but now there are flowers and blossoms and leaves everywhere. I love it when the leaves finally start to appear and within a week everything is totally overgrown. The weather has been so great for the past couple of days. Yesterday we decided to order pizza and go eat it at one of our favorite places in West Hartford--Elizabeth Park. The park is so beautiful, there are flowers everywhere and the tulips are all just starting to bloom. I think they usually have around 50 different types of tulips alone. They also have a great rose garden which I think blooms in about a month and a half.

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We are so excited about our move but are going to miss so many things and people here. This weather today is so great, it's hard to think about the blazing hot summer that is facing us in Birmingham. We'll also miss the pizza, which is unlike any other pizza I've ever had. It's going to be so hard to go back to chain restaurant pizza.
Somehow I deleted the part I wrote about the farm. I took the kids to Flamig Farm today in Simsbury. The weather was perfect and there were really no other people there, so it was great. The usual ENORMOUS pigs were there and 2 piglets as well as: donkeys, chickens, chicks, emu, peacocks, guinea hens, ponies, horses, a cow, goats, sheep, llamas, and cats and dogs. The kids had a terrific time and even Brooks was feeding them which surprised me. He loves animals and was even trying to kiss the goats. I didn't get a picture since I was screaming at him to stop. He didn't stop, but the goat did get away. Afterward we went to this cute little farm store called Tulmeadow Farms and had ice cream. Definitely the best ice cream I have had in a long time, I just wish we would have discovered it sooner. They were selling Ghanaian baskets there, which I thought was sort of weird out in the middle of farmland Connecticut. We had such a great afternoon. It's crazy for me to think that in 3 weeks we'll be "outta here". In fact, when we were in Alabama I found myself feeling homesick for Connecticut. My last day of work will be on the 18th and I am even starting to see the kids I teach in a different light. They are suddenly cuter to me now! We have already started packing up, I can't believe we've almost been here for 4 years!